Vaulted Ceilings: Pros, Cons, and Considerations

In new construction – and occasionally in major remodeling jobs – homeowners are faced with the choice of a standard ceiling height or opening the ceiling to the sloped roofline. This style of architecture is known as a vaulted ceiling or cathedral ceiling. Many people once considered a vaulted ceiling to be luxurious, providing an open, airy, and grand feel in a space. But now opinions are strongly divided, with some homeowners, builders, designers, and others finding the style dated and not energy efficient. So is a vaulted ceiling right for you?

Skyscrapers Made of Wood

Construction is a major carbon dioxide emitter, with eight percent of global emissions traceable to the cement industry and another eight percent coming from steel production. Engineers and entrepreneurs are testing out new ways of building things—in terms of both methodology and materials—to make construction more eco-friendly, not to mention cut its costs and provide better spaces for people to work and live in. 3D printed houses are one trend that’s been on the rise for a couple years. Now it seems an equally innovative trend is developing: high-rise buildings made of wood.

What are the Characteristics of a Perfect Home Design?

Choosing your house design is one of the most exciting phases of building a new home. Essentially the key attributes of a great home include liveability, functionality, convenience, comfort and style. The layout and the way the space functions are key to a comfortable home. If you have young children or are planning on starting a family in the future, it’s important your home grows with you and retains its functionality and comfort for the time frame you intend to stay in it for. Here are some helpful points to consider when choosing the perfect house design for you.

Everything You Need to Know about Shipping Container Homes

Shipping containers fill a crucial niche in the world’s economy. They are large and sturdy enough to uniformly transport goods but small enough to fit on trucks and light enough to be moved by cranes and forklifts. However, over the decades a challenge emerged: an excess of used containers. Where some saw a problem, innovative architects see an eco-friendly opportunity.

Concrete that Generates Light

Phosphorescent Concrete Could Light the Way Home
Imagine a future when, as dusk turns to night during a long drive, the darkening highway begins to glow in soft hues of blue and green to illuminate the path ahead. Such a possibility could become reality after the creation of light-emitting cement. The novel material could provide lighted pathways for cars, trucks, bikes, and pedestrians without using electricity.

Not So Big House: 5 Ways To Make Your Home Feel Bigger

Alta House: view of Kitchen. Note windows and skylights for ample daylighting, variety of ceiling heights, and cozy inglenook space with windows on two sides.

Many homeowners are now gearing up to create that long-postponed new or remodeled home. Many of those homeowners are keen to attain more home at less expense, and so in our architectural practice we are seeing resurgent interest in the Not So Big House.

The Not So Big House movement was kicked off by the 1998 publication of The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live by Sarah Susanka. In it is spelled out a comprehensive strategy to build smaller, more cost effectively, and smarter by favoring quality over quantity. The book was an instant phenomenon, and the movement has understandably experienced resurgent, sustained immediacy over the past several years.

5 Kitchen Remodel Ideas That Pay Off

Kitchens are a place of sustenance and sociability. Food, family, and friends mingle to create a winning combination. So it makes perfect sense that remodels are so often geared toward the kitchen. What about thinking of your kitchen in the long-term sense, in terms of investment and return? Will your kitchen remodel projects be a positive contribution to your home’s value or will they erode that value?

Buildings that Move

Kinetic architecture is a concept through which buildings are designed to allow parts of the structure to move, without reducing overall structural integrity. A building’s capability for motion can be used just to enhance its aesthetic qualities, respond to environmental conditions, and/or perform functions that would be impossible for a static structure. The possibilities for practical implementations of kinetic architecture increased sharply in the late 20th century due to advances in mechanics, electronics, and robotics.

The Sea Ranch Style

Conceived at a time when nature and utopian ideals were becoming increasingly prevalent in American culture and modern architecture, the Northern California community of Sea Ranch was developed in the early 1960s by architect and planner Al Boeke. Boeke envisioned a community that would preserve the area’s natural, rugged beauty and coastline, and would be based on ecological principles with minimal impact on the native environment.

Architectural Weathering Steel

Weathering steel, often referred to by the generic trademark CorTen steel, is a group of steel alloys developed to eliminate the need for painting and form a stable, ruddy appearance after a curing period by exposure to weather. In architectural applications it is used most often as wall and/or roof cladding.